Filament winding is today a well established production technique for fiber reinforced
pressure vessels. Most of the parts are still made using thermosets as matrix material,
but parts with thermoplastic matrices are today on the edge to mass production.
Usually these parts are made from fully consolidated unidirectional fiber reinforced
thermoplastic tapes. During processing the matrix material is molten and the tapes
are placed on the substrate where they re-solidify. A wide range of material combinations
are available on the market. The materials used in the present investigation are
semi-crystalline thermoplastics and glass or carbon fiber i.e. carbon fiber reinforced
Polyetheretherketone, glass fiber reinforced Polyetheretherketone and glass fiber
reinforced Polypropylene.
Applications can be found in the field of medium and high pressure vessels like they
are used for natural gas and hydrogen storage or for tubes and pipes for their transport.
During the design of such parts mostly idealized properties as for example tensile
strength are used. Residual stresses which are inherent for composite materials
are only considered as part of the safety factor.
The present work investigates the generation of residual stresses for in-situ consolidation
during filament winding. Within this process consolidation of the tape material
and the substrate takes place immediately after the tapes are placed. This is contrary
to the normal curing of thermoset materials and has a large influence on the generation
of the residual stress. The impact of these stresses on the behavior of the produced
parts during service is one of the topics of this investigation. Therefore the
background of thermal residual stresses in semi-crystalline thermoplastic parts is discussed
and a closer look on the crystallization behavior of the matrix materials was
taken. As the beginning of the crystal growth is a major point in the generation of thermal residual stress.
The aim of the present work is to find process parameter combinations that allow to
compensate the thermal residual stresses and to generate a residual stress profile
that – unlike the thermal residual stresses - brings about structural benefit. Ring
samples with a defined geometry were made to measure the generated stresses.
The geometry of the samples was chosen in a way that prevents influences of the
boundary conditions of the free edges on the measuring point.
In the investigations the residual stresses were measured in circumferential direction
using a method where the ring samples were cut in radial direction and the deformation
was measured using strain gages. From the strain the local stress can be determined.
It was tried to minimize the number of experiments. Therefore the influence of filament
winding process parameters on the residual stress were investigated using a
Design of Experiments approach where the main influences on the residual stress
generation can be found from a relatively small number of experiments such as 8
instead of 128. As a result of these experiments it was found that the winding angle,
the mandrel temperature, the annealing, the wall thickness and the tape tension have
a significant influence on residual stresses. With increasing winding angles the influence
on the measured circumferential stresses increase regardless to kind of residual
stresses. The mandrel temperature has a large influence on the temperature difference
that causes the stress between fiber and matrix. They are caused by different
thermal expansion coefficients of fiber and matrix. Structural benefit through annealing
is only theoretically possible because the required outside temperatures
along with internal cooling of the parts can not be realized within an industrial processes.
Increasing wall thickness leads to also increasing residual stress but it can not
be the aim to build oversized parts for the sake of residual stresses. The applied tape
tension was identified as a parameter that can be used to achieve the desired residual
stress state with reasonable efforts.
Different ways of varying the tape tension with increasing wall thickness were investigated.
The tape tension was increased with every layer to a chosen maximum value or, after half of the layers were placed, in one step to the maximum value. Furthermore
a continuously high tape tension and a variant without tape tension was investigated.
The experiments led to the conclusion that increasing tape tension with increasing
wall thickness is a viable way to have structural benefit from residual stress.
The increasing in one step gave the best results.
The impact of the thermal history during production is discussed as well. Temperatures
must not exceed the softening point of the matrix. Otherwise a part of the tape
tension gets lost by relaxation. In a particular case the relaxation reached an amount
where the compensation of the thermal stresses failed. Thermodynamic calculations
led to the conclusion that the energy transfer into the material by mandrel heating
and melt energy caused a temperature above the softening point.
The impact of tape tension on material quality is documented. Very low tape tension
can not guarantee a proper consolidation. On the other hand excessive tape tension
can lead to matrix squeeze out and in particular cases to cracks due to too high residual
stresses. Therefore the tape tension profile should be well adapted to work
load, the composite and its properties.
Investigations on the relaxation behavior of the residual stresses showed that relaxation
occurs and that a part of the residual stress relaxes when the samples were exposed
to higher temperatures. Test at room temperature showed no significant sign
of relaxation. When the temperature was raised – in this case to 80 °C - the samples
clearly relaxed. The amount of induced residual stress sank to half of its initial value.
Investigations on the structural benefit showed that material savings of up to 23 % of
weight are possible for high pressure applications and fiber reinforcements with relatively
low fiber volume content. Higher fiber volume contents which also mean higher
strengths reduce the benefit. As the strength of the material increases the benefit
reduces in relation to it.
Nevertheless there is a potential in material saving and one should keep in mind that
the costs to establish the equipment to control the tape tension is cheap in comparison
to the achievable result.

The scientific and industrial interest devoted to polymer/layered silicate
nanocomposites due to their outstanding properties and novel applications resulted
in numerous studies in the last decade. They cover mostly thermoplastic- and
thermoset-based systems. Recently, studies in rubber/layered silicate
nanocomposites were started, as well. It was presented how complex maybe the
nanocomposite formation for the related systems. Therefore the rules governing their
structure-property relationships have to be clarified. In this Thesis, the related
aspects were addressed.
For the investigations several ethylene propylene diene rubbers (EPDM) of polar and
non-polar origin were selected, as well as, the more polar hydrogenated acrylonitrile
butadiene rubber (HNBR). The polarity was found to be beneficial on the
nanocomposite formation as it assisted to the intercalation of the polymer chains
within the clay galleries. This favored the development of exfoliated structures.
Finding an appropriate processing procedure, i.e. compounding in a kneader instead
of on an open mill, the mechanical performance of the nanocomposites was
significantly improved. The complexity of the nanocomposite formation in
rubber/organoclay system was demonstrated. The deintercalation of the organoclay
observed, was traced to the vulcanization system used. It was evidenced by an
indirect way that during sulfur curing, the primary amine clay intercalant leaves the
silicate surface and migrates in the rubber matrix. This was explained by its
participation in the sulfur-rich Zn-complexes created. Thus, by using quaternary
amine clay intercalants (as it was presented for EPDM or HNBR compounds) the
deintercalation was eliminated. The organoclay intercalation/deintercalation detected
for the primary amine clay intercalants, were controlled by means of peroxide curing
(as it was presented for HNBR compounds), where the vulcanization mechanism
differs from that of the sulfur curing.
The current analysis showed that by selecting the appropriate organoclay type the
properties of the nanocomposites can be tailored. This occurs via generating different
nanostructures (i.e. exfoliated, intercalated or deintercalated). In all cases, the
rubber/organoclay nanocomposites exhibited better performance than vulcanizates
with traditional fillers, like silica or unmodified (pristine) layered silicates.The mechanical and gas permeation behavior of the respective nanocomposites
were modelled. It was shown that models (e.g. Guth’s or Nielsen’s equations)
developed for “traditional” vulcanizates can be used when specific aspects are taken
into consideration. These involve characteristics related to the platy structure of the
silicates, i.e. their aspect ratio after compounding (appearance of platelet stacks), or
their orientation in the rubber matrix (order parameter).

Wireless LANs operating within unlicensed frequency bands require random access schemes such as CSMA/ CA, so that wireless networks from different administrative domains (for example wireless community networks) may co-exist without central coordination, even when they happen to operate on the same radio channel. Yet, it is evident that this Jack of coordination leads to an inevitable loss in efficiency due to contention on the MAC layer. The interesting question is, which efficiency may be gained by adding coordination to existing, unrelated wireless networks, for example by self-organization. In this paper, we present a methodology based on a mathematical programming formulation to determine the
parameters (assignment of stations to access points, signal strengths and channel assignment of both access points and stations) for a scenario of co-existing CSMA/ CA-based wireless networks, such that the contention between these networks is minimized. We demonstrate how it is possible to solve this discrete, non-linear optimization problem exactly for small
problems. For larger scenarios, we present a genetic algorithm specifically tuned for finding near-optimal solutions, and compare its results to theoretical lower bounds. Overall, we provide a benchmark on the minimum contention problem for coordination mechanisms in CSMA/CA-based wireless networks.

Carbon-fibre reinforced plastics have been widely used in the aerospace industry as
materials for structural components. During recent years, the focus has been on
preform/RTM materials with the aim of improving material properties and reducing
costs. Harnessing the full potential of these materials requires a model for assessing
the properties and in particular long-term behaviour. Such a model needs to take into
account the special conditions of these materials. Basic failure mechanisms have to
be analysed in order to develop this kind of model.
Consequently, the aim of the work was to investigate the fatigue phenomenon in
preform-CFRP materials with thermoset matrices on a microstructural level. The
influence of the dynamic loading and the temperature on the emerging fracture
phenomena should be identified. Based on the results, a common fracture mechanism
should be found. The failure should be described on a mesoscopic level so that
it is not restricted on the fatigue failure at a single crack front.
To achieve this aim, different preform materials with EP matrix (some of which had
been subjected to impact) were loaded with dynamic compression load and high
frequent alternate bending. The fatigue behaviour of the matrix systems was investigated
by CT tests.
By means of microfractography, the only method for detecting fatigue failure as such,
the failure mechanisms were analysed at submicroscopic level. The results showed
correlations between microstructure and failure.
It became apparent that what in the technical literature has been given as an explanation
for the appearance of the fatigue striations in the scanning electron microscope
had to be corrected. As undercuts are not reflected in the SEM as dark striations,
the appearance of the striations must be based on different inclinations of the
local fractured surface to the primary electron beam.
On the basis of this result the shape and the formation of the fatigue striations could
be shown in resin pockets and fibre imprints. Fatigue striations have a shape which
sticks out from the fracture plane, preferably in the form of steps.
There was no proof for an influence of the high frequent load on the formation of
fatigue striations. However, it was possible to find lamellar fracture phenomena which
have not been described in the technical literature yet. Due to their shape and their occurrence these can be understood rather as a sign of a dynamic load then as a
fracture phenomenon of a high frequent cyclic loading.
The examinations of the high frequent loaded samples, where temperatures up to
120°C occurred, as well as in the CT tests with elevated temperatures (60% Tg)
yielded no proof that the temperature has an influence on the mechanical failure
behaviour. However, the formation of the fatigue striations in high frequent loaded
specimens leads to the deduction that adiabatic heating exists at the crack tip which
leads to large plastic deformations because the glass transition temperature is exceeded
locally.
The microfractographic investigations showed that the fatigue striations appear as
separate static fractures. On account of their shape and in relation to the matching
fracture surfaces plastic processes can be held responsible for the formation of the
striations. Altogether this leads to a modification of the models for the origin of fatigue
striations prevalent in the technical literature. The suggested model associates the
real fracture growth under fatigue loading only with a small part of the loading cycle.
Crack propagation only occurs when the maximum stress intensity is reached in the
area of the upper loading of the cycle. Microplastic processes by molecular rearrangement
in the stress field ahead of the crack tip lead to the blunting of the crack
tip, which is reflected as fatigue striations on the fracture surface. Simultaneously, the
cyclic loading causes damages in the molecular network of the thermoset. This leads
to the possibility of fracture formation below the static stress at break.
On the basis of the model and of fatigue crack growth diagrams it is possible to
establish thresholds for the stress intensity necessary for crack propagation under
cyclic load. The upper threshold of the stress intensity corresponds to KC, because it
marks the transition to unstable crack growth. The lower threshold is determined by
the value of the cyclic stress intensity factor where crack growth has just ceased to
be ascertainable.
With the existing model of local crack growth under fatigue loading and the results of
the chronological course of failure from the microfractographic investigations of the
different materials it was possible to detect a general failure mechanism for the
preform-CFRP materials.
When an external alternating load is applied, an inhomogeneous stress field forms in
the composite material. In areas stressed within the growth stress, fatigue growth occurs in the form of secondary fractures within the matrix. The primary crack front
runs along these damaged points in the material until global failure occurs. This leads
to a discontinuous, stepwise failure expiration under fatigue loading. This general
mechanism permits assessment of the damage behaviour and the progression of
failure in various types of fibre reinforcement.